From Educating Children to Educating Our Customers: The Skills That Help Everyday

Nearly a year ago, Stacy Daly joined Teva as a sales specialist, moving over to the pharmaceutical industry after a career in education. Here, she tells us how her transferrable skills have helped her carve a career that she loves.

During the pandemic, I decided to make a significant change in my life and change my career. I'd been working in education as a teacher for many years and had reached as far as possible. However, things had become stagnant, and I needed a new challenge. I knew I wanted to use the skills I had to help others – which the pharma industry in general offers, but perhaps I hadn't realized just how transferrable my skills would be.

Teva wasn't new to me, as my husband had worked here previously. I'd experienced the culture as a guest on family work dinners and trips and, even back then, had felt it was like a small close-knit community. I was familiar with the company and its values and liked what I saw, so I jumped at the chance when the opportunity to join them arose.

Despite not having the same background as others, the leadership and team members were so welcoming from the moment I came on board. I've been continuously encouraged to apply the skills I’ve brought with me from my time as a teacher and supported to learn new ones.

The pharma industry is very different from working in education, but my core skills have definitely been transferrable. Yes, initially, I was nervous about coming into pharma and sales without the 'right' background or training, but my work ethic and the support of my exceptional managers and the team have grown my confidence. They've been such great cheerleaders. I'm now able to reciprocate that support and do more for the team.

Everyone is heard, and all employees are given a voice

After four months on the job, I was assigned a new territory, which meant having a whole new structure, but everyone clicked, and we established a great team dynamic, which has proved successful. There's a genuine spirit of openness and inclusion here, and from the top down, the directors are transparent about where we are on a local scale. We're kept in the loop about any organizational developments via global team calls and companywide meetings.

I joined in the pandemic, and so did home training at first, with my managers supporting me in the field. I've also had the opportunity to develop my skills in probing questions for healthcare providers. While I'd always needed to use this questioning in education, it was an area I needed to grow in the pharma space, and I'm now happily progressing and utilizing these new skills.

A year into the job, I already feel like I belong

Working at Teva has been a positive experience for me. It's an exciting environment where no two days, or two questions, are the same. Every single moment is different, and I thrive on that. It's what energizes me and keeps me on my toes. You don’t find that in many places.

I've found the culture at Teva to be employee-centric, committed, and together; there's a real sense of awareness about the people we help through our work and a shared purpose of being able to improve lives. A lot of this comes through the leadership and management team, which I find so inspiring – they have such great energy. They're excellent communicators who incentivize the different regional teams, listening to what we need out in the field and keeping us excited and engaged on work and personal team projects.

Teva focuses on their employees' health and well-being and encourages us to take care of ourselves, so they are accommodating if you have appointments or gym classes. I love to run and enjoy training, so if there's a day when I've finished up my calls and expense reports, I have the flexibility to head out early to the gym. My previous employer expected me to stay inside a building for nine hours a day with no flexibility, so to have this trust feels excellent.

To anyone looking to move industry, I would say: don't give up. Apply to as many open roles as you can and be authentic. If you want to help others and have a real passion for making a difference in the world, you'll be a good fit at Teva - or in the pharma industry. It might take a few swings of the bat, but keep trying until you can leap; it's a rewarding industry to be a part of.

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